Ignition failure shutdown apparatus

ABSTRACT

A burner for burning combustible fuel, such as fuel oil, having a continuous electrical spark ignition device, and further including a light conducting tube for receiving light from the spark ignition device, while excluding light from the burning fuel, and conducting the light to an ultraviolet detector which controls a valve to allow fuel to pass to the burner only when the ignition device is operating.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,748,083 Finger 1 July 24, 1973 i 1 IGNITION FAILURE SHUTDOWN 2,442,145 5 1941; Ruy 431/19 x APPARATUS 3,39l,984 7/1968 Metcalf et 111 431/19 Inventor: John F. Finger, Beresford, S. Dak.

Sioux Steam Cleaner Corporation, Beresford, S. Dak.

Filed: Mar. 10, 1972 Appl. No.: 233,798

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 41,131, May 25, 1970, abandoned.

Assignee:

US. Cl. 431/66, 431/79 Int. Cl. F23q 3/00 Field of Search 431/79, 78, 66

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1971 Hewitt 431/79 Primary Examiner-Edward G. Favors Attorney Merchant & Gould [57] ABSTRACT A burner for burning combustible fuel, such as fuel oil, having a continuous electrical spark ignition device, and further including a light conducting tube for receiving light from the spark ignition device, while excluding light from the burning fuel, and conducting the light to an ultraviolet detector which controls a valve to allow fuel to pass to the burner only when the ignition device is operating.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures IGNITION FAILURE SIIUTDOWN APPARATUS This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 41,131, filed May 25, 1970 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention In fuel burners utilized for heating wherein the burners operate intermittently and are ignited by a continuously operating ignition system, such as an electrical spark, a pilot light, etc., it is essential that the ignition system operate correctly. If the ignition system should fail fuel will be pumped to the burner but will not be ignited and, consequently, the entire apparatus will become extremely dangerous. At the present time, the only method known to me'of supervising the burner and ignition system is to periodically inspect the burner and ignition system to insure the correct operation thereof. This is extremely time consuming and haphazard because there is a tendency to forget or to assume the apparatus is working correctly. Also, in some systems heat sensors are utilized but because of the inherent delay (due to the requirement that the system cool off before the heat sensor detects a problem), during which time fuel is continuously supplied to the burner, these systems are only partially successful and, therefore, unsatisfactory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to an ignition failure shutdown apparatus including light sensing means having a light conducting member afiixed thereto for transmitting light only from the ignition means to the light sensing means, said light sensing means providing an electrical signal in response to .the light from the ignition means, which signal controls a valve to allow fuel to flow to the burner as long as the ignition means is operating properly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide ignition failure shutdown apparatus for a combustible'fluid burner.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide ignition failure shutdown apparatus which automatically prevents fuel from flowing to a combustible fluid burner if the ignition means associated therewith is notoperating properly.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent .to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawmgs.

BRIEF-DESCRIPTION OF m: DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a combustible fluid burner having the improved ignition failure shutdown apparatus operatively affixed thereto; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view as seen from the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 1 an air spinner 13 is fixedly mounted above the end of the nozzle 12 to provide the desired mixture of air and fuel. The fuel, upon being ignited, burns generally above the air spinner 13 in a spaced relation from the tip of the nozzle 12.

Ignition means are operatively mounted adjacent the nozzle 12 so that a spark produced thereby is adjacent the tip of the nozzle 12 and sufficiently close to ignite combustible fluid flowing therefrom. In this disclosure a spark is defined as any flame or similar type of combustion produced by an electrical ignition means, a pilot light, etc., Further, in this disclosure an electrical spark ignition means generally designated 15 is illustrated and described for exemplary purposes. The electrical spark ignition device 15 includes first and second electrodes 16 and 17 which extend vertically upwardly on either side of the nozzle 12 and the upper ends thereof converge to form a spark gap 18 adjacent the tip of the nozzle 12. With the electrodes 16 and 17 attached to a suitable source of electrical energy (not shown) a continuous spark is produced at the spark gap 18, which spark is sufficient to ignite combustible fluid flowing from the nozzle 12. The electrical spark ignition device 15 and nozzle 12 are mounted in the desired orientation by means of a support clamp spinner 20. The particular embodiment of the burner 10, including the supporting apparatus, are simply for exemplary purposes and will vary considerably with different types of burners anddifferent manufacturers.

Ignition failure shutdown apparatus generally desig-' nated 30 are fixedly mounted adjacent the burner 10 by means of the support clamp spinner 20' and a pair of supportclamps 31. The shutdown apparatus includes light sensing means 32, light conducting and directing means 33 and valve means 34. The light conducting means 33 includes an elongated tube 35 mounted vertically adjacent the nozzle 12 of the burner 10. The tube 35 has an opening 36 adjacent the upper end thereof directed generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tube 35. A mirror 37 is mounted in the upper I end of the tube 35 so as to direct light rays entering the opening 3 6 vertically downwardly parallel with thelongitudinal axis of the tube 35. The tube 35 is mounted so that the opening 36 is adjacent the spark gap 18 and light emanating from a spark at'the spark gap. l8 enters the opening 36 and is directed longitudinally down the tube 35 by the mirror 37. Because of the orientation of the opening 36 and the mirror 37 in the tube 35 light from burning fluid above the air spinner 13 does not enter the tube 35. Because, the burner 10 may be ignited and shut down as heat is required, it is essential that only light from a spark in the spark gap 18 enter the tube 35 and that light from burning fluids above the air spinner 13 be excludedtherefrom. While a specific embodiment of the light conducting means 30 is illustrated for use with the specific burner 10, it should be understood that modifications and alterations of the light conducting means 33 will be produced by those skilled in the art.

The light sensing means 32 is affixed to the lower end of the tube 35'to receive light transmitted therealong. In the present embodiment the light sensing means 32 is an ultraviolet detector. An ultraviolet detector is utilized in the present embodiment, rather than an infrared detector, because the actual spark gives off ultraviolet rays while some infrared rays may emanate from the spark gap 18, because of the heat, even though a spark is not present. It should be understood, however, that other types of light sensors, such as infrared detectors and the like, might be utilized if they are properly adjusted to provide a signal when the ignition system has failed.

The light sensing means 32 produces an electrical signal, which is supplied through a pair of leads 40 to the valve means 34. The valve means 34 may be a solenoidtype valve or the like which is electrically controlled and is mounted in communication with the fluid conduit 11 to control the flow of combustible fluid therethrough. The signal on the leads 40 from the light sensing means 32 controls the valve means 34 so that combustible fluid is free to flow through the conduit 11 to the nozzle 12 as long as the proper spark is present in the spark gap 18. When the spark in the spark gap 18 is extinguished for any reason ultraviolet rays are no longer conducted through the light conducting means 33 to the light sensing means 32 and the valve means 34 is controlled to a closed position. Thus, combustible fluid is prevented from flowing in the conduit 11 to the nozzle 12.

Thus, ignition failure shutdown apparatus is illustrated which controls the flow of combustible fluid to the burner in response to the ignition device 15. When the ignition device fails the fluid is shut down so that it does not continue to flow into the burner 10 without being ignited. The shutdown apparatus 30 greatly improves the safety factor for the burner 10 and ignition device 15 and greatly reduces the time and effort required in the operation thereof. While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modifications and improvements .will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is: l. ignition failure shutdown apparatus comprising: a. a combustible fluid burner adapted to be connected to a source of combustible fluid and including a nozzle; b., electrical ignition means mounted adjacent said burner nozzle for producing a substantially continuous spark to ignite combustible fluid discharged from said nozzle;

c. light sensing means including an ultraviolet detector mounted to receive light from said continuous spark and providing an output signal in response to the light from said continuous spark;

d. valve means connected to receive the output signal from said light sensing means and operatively mounted to control the flow of combustible fluid from the source to said burner in response to the output signal; and

. an elongated tube having an inlet opening directed toward the continuous spark and in a direction away from the ignited combustible fluid, said tube being arranged to substantially shield said light sensing means from light of ignited combustible fluid and other than that emanating from said continuous spark, said tube having means therein for directing light from said continuous spark toward said light sensing means.

2. For a combustible fluid burner having a fluid discharge nozzle and a continuous spark ignition system emitting ultraviolet light adjacent said nozzle, ignition failure shutdown apparatus comprising:

a. an elongated tube of opaque material attachable adjacent said burner and having an opening at one end directed toward the continuous spark and disposed to exclude light from ignited combustible fluid;

b. ultraviolet light sensing means at the other end of said tube for receiving substantially only the light from said continuous spark, said light sensing means providing an output signal responsive to light received from said spark ignition; and

c. valve means connected to receive the out-put signal from the light sensing means and adapted to control the flow of fluid to the burner in response to the output signal.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 in which said opening is disposed so that the line of sight axially therethrough is generally perpendicular to the direction of propagation of said spark.

III IIK i 

1. Ignition failure shutdown apparatus comprising: a. a combustible fluid burner adapted to be connected to a source of combustible fluid and including a nozzle; b. electrical ignition means mounted adjacent said burner nozzle for producing a substantially continuous spark to ignite combustible fluid discharged from said nozzle; c. light sensing means including an ultraviolet detector mounted to receive light from said continuous spark and providing an output signal in response to the light from said continuous spark; d. valve means connected to receive the output signal from said light sensing means and operatively mounted to control the flow of combustible fluid from the source to said burner in response to the output signal; and e. an elongated tube having an inlet opening directed toward the continuous spark and in a direction away from the ignited combustible fluid, said tube being arranged to substantially shield said light sensing means from light of ignited combustible fluid and other than that emanating from said continuous spark, said tube having means therein for directing light from said continuous spark toward said light sensing means.
 2. For a combustible fluid burner having a fluid discharge nozzle and a continuous spark ignition system emitting ultraviolet light adjacent said nozzle, ignition failure shutdown apparatus comprising: a. an elongated tube of opaque material attachable adjacent said burner and having an opening at one end directed toward the continuous spark and disposed to exclude light from ignited combustible fluid; b. ultraviolet light sensing means at the other end of said tube for receiving substantially only the light from said continuous spark, said light sensing means providing an output signal responsive to light received from said spark ignition; and c. valve means connected to receive the out-put signal from the light sensing means and adapted to control the flow of fluid to the burner in response to the output signal.
 3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 in which said opening is disposed so that the line of sight axially therethrough is generally perpendicular to the direction of propagation of said spark. 